Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Signs of Spring

Here we are, already March 4th! While spring certainly feels like it is a long ways away (a possibility of snow and ice here in Portland this last weekend and temps turned chilly) I’m rejoicing in the few signs of life I've recently discovered. For me reaching March is a mental milestone, it just gets better from here!

Every year the Veratrum californicum are the first thing to push out of the ground (I grow no daffodils, tulips or crocus). I think last year there were only two, so three is fabulous!

The Eremurus is also bulking up, hopefully at least a couple will have blooms.

There are also signs of spring in my basement (how many people can say that?)! One cold night in January I left my Bocconia frutescens outside, temps got much lower than predicted. The foliage was toast and perhaps the plant too (only hardy to 25-30F, and that’s when it’s in the ground). I chopped it back and stuck it in the basement. Look!

Lots of new growth…

The Erythrina crista-galli (Cockspur Coral Tree) has been in the basement too, I cut it back last fall when it went dormant and just hoped to keep the plant alive. Looks like it is!

One more basement oddball. I stuffed this container of Canna tubers on the bottom shelf in December, before the super cold temps, just hoping to keep it from freezing. Then I forgot about it…oh spring, hurry up!

I love the impatient Cannas pushing against the shelf above! So glad you have so much life going on in your basement.

Re: my visit to Cistus, I'm definitely planning to come to the bloggers exchange again. And I'm still thinking about the California buckeye too. I want to see how it looks all leafed out. I don't remember seeing Hesperaloe for sale up here, but maybe I haven't been looking specifically for it.

It's amazingly warm outside today (61) and not raining (for the moment) so I was out getting a few things done and noticing even more little green nubbins poking out here and there. Yay! Hope it just keeps on keeping on...

Yay for the Bocconia and everything else! March can be a funny month, the promise of spring and yet the threat of cold is still there but no point being negative when the light at the end of the tunnel is so visible.

Have you ever heard of anyone growing Erythrina in the PNW in the ground? E. x bidwillii is root-hardy to zone 7, and I think E. crista-galli is, too, but I'm not sure the PNW has enough heat for them to bloom successfully in the ground.

I have only heard of erythrina grown in containers in these parts, but then again I only became aware of them last summer when my E. crista-galli was gifted to me. All those thorns! How had I missed it until then?

Spring growth is always one of the most exciting times of year. You must be a good month ahead of us in the UK. Great to see Eremurus, I think they are so well with succulent plants, but you don't see it that often. I found one trick to get flowers on mine to to put a cloche over them at this stage and ensure they have lots of water. The extra heat gives them that little extra kick.